Obedience
by Aki-Chan04
Summary: Things are getting down to the wire - and now there's a complication. A new student that looks exactly like Kohji...? Part 2 up!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gawl boys, although sometimes I wish I did so they could help me with my homework Valued Gateway Client Normal Valued Gateway Client 1 3 2001-11-11T21:07:00Z 2001-11-11T21:10:00Z 3 1263 7201 MIT Libraries 60 14 8843 9.3821 

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gawl boys, although sometimes I wish I did so they could help me with my homework!

AN: Okay. I apologize in advance, some of these parts might come out a little slowly because I don't have tons of time to work on this one. But here's the first part, let me know what you think!

Obedience

Part 1

            Ryuko Saito stood at the railing, her slender fingers wrapped around the cold black metal as she looked up at the wonder of biological technology before her. The cool orange glow of the tank's lights reflected off her face, making her features look softer than the sharp, dark lines that they truly were. 

            She heard Kanae come up beside her; she felt his warm hand fall on her shoulder and heard his soft chuckle in her ear. 

            "You've really outdone yourself this time, my dear Ryuko," he murmured to her as she glanced sideways at him, a feral grin dancing across her thin red lips. His glasses flashed brightly in the orange lights, hiding his sharp brown eyes from her. 

            "Haven't I, though?" she laughed back, taking a step away from the railing and eyeing the tank once more. "She's beautiful. And she's mine." 

            "Oh yes," Kanae agreed. "All yours. I believe she will perform wonderfully." 

            "We'll see, now won't we?" 

                                                *                       *                       *

            "You! How could you do this to me?!" 

            "Oh, that was easy!" 

            "Well next time you decide to 'take my bag to school for me', TELL ME!!"        

            The brown schoolbag went flying through the air, hurled in Gawl's direction. 

            "That's it! That's the last time I'm nice to you -!" 

            "Oh, come on you guys." Ryo looked up at Natsume, surprised at the exasperation in her tone. Apparently the two students quibbling had noticed as well; both Gawl and Masami turned to look at the pink-haired girl as she stopped walking and immediately began blushing, her pale cheeks growing rosy. 

            "Oh… I didn't mean it… to sound so…" she stammered, her voice soft and uncertain once more. She clutched her schoolbag in both hands, staring at her feet. 

            "Oh, Natsume! Don't worry about it," Masami replied loudly, waving her hand at her quiet friend. "It's all *his* fault anyway –" 

            "It is not!" Gawl protested. 

            Masami opened her mouth to protest, but just before she could speak the school's warning bell rang out over the group, which was standing a good 3 minutes away from the Ohju grounds yet. Masami's eyes went wide as she turned, grabbing Natsume's wrist and dragging her friend off down the sidewalk towards the looming structure of the ring tower ahead. 

            "Come *on*, we're gonna be late!" 

            Ryo looked up at Kohji to see his eyes following the bobbing pink curls as they disappeared over the hill. He saw Kohji's mouth pull down into a pensive half-frown. 

            "Hn. Well, we'd better get going before we're late, too," he observed, starting off down the sidewalk behind the girls; Ryo followed, jogging a bit to catch up with Kohji's longer strides as Gawl fell in behind them, reluctantly dragging himself the rest of the way to class. 

                                                *                       *                       *

            The classroom was oppressively loud, students talking in excited voices as the three boys entered, noting that Masami and Natsume were already seated at their desks, the latter looking rather smug. Gawl, Kohji, and Ryo made their way through the noisy students to their own desks, taking their seats just as the last bell signaling the beginning of the class period rang. The professor walked into the room a moment later, amidst the hushed whisperings of his students. He went to the front of the room, and the last of the whispers fell silent as he held one hand up, peering over his wire-rimmed glasses at the teenagers assembled before him. 

            "Class," he began, voice businesslike and commanding, "today before we begin I would like to introduce our newest student: she is a transfer student from Kyoto and has come here to study at our prestigious school. Class, may I introduce Kamamoto Kumiko." 

            The classroom door slid open without a sound, and a girl walked to the front of the room. Her Ohju uniform was crisp and new, the blue shirt swishing almost dutifully about her pale legs as she stopped before the class, hands folded and eyes flashing over the room. 

            Ryo shivered. Then he looked at her – he *really* looked at her, and had to push down the urge to whip his head to the side to make sure that the tall figure of his friend was still sitting beside him, and hadn't instead gotten up to address the class himself. The resemblance was that striking.

            Because this girl – Kumiko, the professor had said – looked too much like Kohji Suzuki. 

            Her hair, the exact deep green color as his, was chopped shorter, falling smoothly to just below her chin and framing her sharp face. Deep brown irises looked at the class through narrowed eyelids as her small mouth tightened. 

            No, he thought, she didn't look *exactly* like him – where Kohji was tall, she was much shorter, more likely 5 foot 3 or so, closer to perhaps Ryo's or even Gawl's own height; she also had a delicate look about her that reminded him more of Nastume than anything else. 

            But her *face*… Even her expression was one that he'd grown used to, so often was it on his partner's face. Cool, calm, unreadable.

            Now he did turn to look at Kohji; his tall friend was staring back at the girl, sitting at his desk as cool and calm as ever. If her appearance struck anything in him at all, he was hiding it well. But Ryo knew Kohji, and he knew just how good his friend was at hiding things. 

            A quick glance to his left showed that Gawl was sleeping, as usual – and perhaps that was just as well. All they needed was for the… less reserved boy to loudly point out just how much like Kohji the new student looked. 

            "You may take your seat now," the professor was saying to her. He pointed to a desk in the back, behind Ryo and off to the side, near the window. She nodded curtly and began making her way soundlessly toward the directed location. 

            Something in his stomach churned as she passed him. Something just… wasn't right. And it wasn't only her appearance. 

            He saw Gawl's eyes crack open as she stepped past him as well; he saw the black-haired boy's frown and heard his shift in his seat. But the Generator only put his head back down. 

            Good, Ryo thought. Maybe he thought he'd only had a bad dream. For some reason, he just didn't want Gawl to… notice this yet. Not before they'd talked, and definitely not before they could come up with a plan. 

                                                *                       *                       *

            Class went by as slowly or quickly as it ever did; Ryo was barely listening to the professor, however, droning on about some Shakespearean play or other. He was more concerned with the growing uneasiness in his stomach – a feeling not only begun but fueled by the pang of… something that he'd felt when Kumiko had walked by him. 

            Gawl had woken up later into the class period and glanced around; Ryo had seen the frown and furrowed brow when those green eyes had fallen on the new student, but – thankfully – Gawl had said nothing. He only sat up in his chair, body stiff – no, tensed, as if to pounce, Ryo thought – and actually paid attention in class. An action for which Masami was now giving him the usual grief. She was blaming it all on the new student as well, but very thankfully she was doing it for the wrong reasons.

            "Oh come *on*, Gawl! You can't tell me you were paying attention today just because *she* was there! You *never* pay attention! You were trying to impress her! Just admit it!" 

            "I was *not*, Masami, now just layoffit before I use that thing on your head for a nice long game of KICK THE CAN!" 

            "It is *not* a can!" 

            "Hmph. Sure looks like it to me."

            *Thwap!*

            "Ow!" 

            "You deserved that!"

            "I did not!" 

            Ryo sighed as the two resorted to chasing each other down the hall toward the cafeteria. Natsume stood for a moment, looking worriedly after the scrambling pair as Ryo and Kohji caught up with her. 

            "They shouldn't be running in the halls," she said, her voice tinged with worry but her tone oddly… absent-minded. She sounded as if her mind wasn't on her proffered worries over Gawl and Masami, but rather something else. 

            Ryo had noticed that same sort of look on her face earlier, before class. She'd looked preoccupied. He wondered what the reason was, and whether or not he should ask about it. Natsume was a very quiet person; he didn't know that she would tell him if he asked. 

            "I don't think you have to worry about them," Kohji said curtly; to Ryo's trained ear, he also sounded just like Natsume did – absent-minded. But Ryo knew the reason for that, at least – he knew Kohji's mind was most likely on their new classmate. And on the meeting the three boys were probably going to have in the bathroom after lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them… but I bet Kohji at least would be really helpful with my lab right about now!

Obedience

Part 2

            "Oh look, they cleaned in here today. Whopee." Gawl's agitated tone bounced off the clean white tile of they boys' bathroom as the three students stood facing each other in the center of the large room. 

            "Cut the crap, Gawl. You know why we're here," Kohji said; Ryo pinned him with a concerned gaze. Sure, their tall leader was usually curt and didn't put up with Gawl's rants nearly as much as Ryo did, but today his voice was even sharper than usual. 

            The growing uneasiness in his stomach only churned harder. 

            "Fine," Gawl growled, fixing his bright green gaze on Kohji, expressing his anger in his intense stare. "Then tell me what's up with *her* - that new student that showed up today." 

            "We don't know," Kohji said, a twinge of exasperation on the edge of his tone. 

            Gawl's green irises swung over to Ryo. "You don't?" 

            Ryo shook his head worriedly. "No. But… she gives me a bad feeling." 

            "You can say that again," Gawl muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and spinning on his heel, pacing back and forth in the small area containing the row of sinks beside the door. Ryo watched the black-haired reflection in the mirror: first one direction, then the other, then the first again… 

            "Well we need to look into this," Kohji said, his sharp brown eyes following Gawl's pacing form as well, back and forth across the tile. 

            "Yes, I would say we do!" Gawl snapped, stopping and turning to stare at Kohji again,. 

            Ryo didn't like the tension building in the air. He held up his hands, turning to face both Kohji and Gawl. 

            "Hey, look you guys, stop getting so wound up. Snapping at each other isn't going to solve anything," he mediated, his voice calm but firm. "I think you need to calm down, and then we can formulate a plan, decide what we're going to do." 

            Gawl sighed, his hands dropping to his sides once more. "Yeah, sorry Ryo, but she just makes my skin *crawl*." 

            Ryo nodded. "I know, but we have to be logical about this. It could be nothing at all." 

            Kohji's gaze swiveled over to his shorter blonde companion. "Ryo, you should know by now that nothing here is coincidental." 

            Ryo sighed. "Yes. I guess I do." 

            But there was always that vague, fleeting hope…  

            "And hey, speaking of coincidence, I'm *sure* you two Einsteins noticed how much she looks like our fearless leader here," Gawl's voice was the first to point out aloud the worry that had been steeping in Ryo's stomach since English that morning. 

            Kohji's eyes narrowed. "Yes, Gawl, we had noticed." 

            "Well?"   
            "Well what?" Ryo asked. "It's bothering us too, but like Kohji said, we don't know anything about her!"

            "That needs to change," Kohji stated. Ryo nodded. 

            Gawl sighed and crossed his arms, averting his eyes to look at the plain white wall. "And whaddaya wanna bet I'm the first one that gets to talk to her up close and personal-like… in battle…"   
            Something flashed through Kohji's eyes. "You sensed something?"   
            Gawl looked up, pinning their leader again with his annoyed green gaze. "Well, yeah!"

            Ryo's stomach began to feel even more uneasy than it had before. He had sensed something, all right, but it hadn't been the usual prickly feeling he got when – 

            "She's a Generator?" 

            Gawl's eyes focused on Ryo once more. "Yeah," he said, voice heavy with concern, tinged with fatigue. "She is. You didn't notice?"

            "No," Ryo admitted, his mind suddenly full of images of Gawl, fighting the Generators that Ryuko mercilessly sent after him, one after the other, a steady stream of opponents to break them – to break Gawl – down.    

            He knew what all these Generators were doing his friend. He knew *Gawl* knew what all these Generators were doing to him. That was the worst part, he thought. Knowing you were being depleted, fight by fight, bit by bit, by an enemy that you couldn't directly attack – 

            Could they?    

            "This complicates things," Kohji muttered; Ryo could see that he was already thinking furiously behind those dark brown eyes of his. 

            "I would say it does!" Gawl snapped, the tension back in the air, making Ryo even more uneasy. He hadn't thought that possible. 

            "Guys, stop," he pleaded once more. "Please. I know it's getting down to the wire – " 

            "Then do something!" Gawl said, taking a step towards the door. "Do something about it, dammit, and don't just sit there trying to keep us calm. I'm sick of being calm. I want someone to hold accountable for this!" 

            And he was gone, the door sliding shut behind him. Outside, Ryo could hear Masami's voice, immediately assaulting him as she demanded once again to know what they had been discussing in the bathroom, of all things. 

            Ryo blinked. This was all falling apart. He hadn't meant to… 

            He suddenly didn't want to stand anymore. He let himself collapse to the ground, sitting down hard on the cold white tiles of the floor. 

            "Ryo," Kohji said, voice still matter-of-fact although it was bordered by something else. Stress, and the same fatigue that Ryo had heard in Gawl's voice. 

            "Just leave me alone," Ryo whispered, begged of the white floor tiles, hoping his words would bounce up and that Kohji would understand. 

            He did, and the last thing Ryo heard was Kohji's footsteps clicking away on the tile, and the *swoosh* of the bathroom door opening and closing. 

            He had never meant for any of this to happen… 

                                                *                       *                       *

            Natsume was too slow. Too slow and too weak – and too emotionally attached to their targets. That was all there was to it. And a new tactic had had to be employed. 

            Ryuko had given them a glimpse of the cards she held in her hand. Even Kanae was unsure as to how the boys would react, but the feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that caution would likely prevail. And a good thing, too. Those boys would do well to be more cautious. 

            He wondered if they had noticed that their new "classmate" was also a Generator. The Gawl boy most likely had; he wasn't sure if the other two were advanced enough to pick up on her core. Ryuko had been doing some amazing work in that field. Camouflage, she had called it. Stealth Generators, not detectable by all but the most advanced equipment. Or the sharpest of senses.

            He punched a few buttons on the panel before him, knowing the code by heart to the point that he didn't even need to watch his own fingers dance across the keypad; the door opened with a mechanical whir and he stepped into the lab. 

            Ryuko was sitting at her desk, hands folded delicately beneath her pale chin, eyes flashing purposefully over a pile of schematics. Her back was to him, and she did not move or acknowledge his entrance in any way. 

            "You're late, Kanae," her matter-of-fact voice cut through the air as deftly as a knife. She *did* have that way about her. 

            "I'm sorry," he apologized curtly. "I had something to take care of with the administration. We do need to keep our grants up to date." 

            She "hm"ed; a soft, exasperated sound that indicated that she thought the cover of grant money to fund her "biological research" was a bother. All the same, it was necessary, and Kanae knew she knew that as well as he did. A professor conducting groundbreaking research seemingly without funding was just too conspicuous. 

            Especially when the actual funding for the research came from the next century or two in the future.

            Although she had been getting sloppy. Well, sloppy was not the right word, Kanae mused, but it was something of the sort. Sloppy for Ryuko Saito, at any rate. Perhaps careless would be a better word. Rushed. Annoyed. She was running out of time, and with it out of patience. Things were going well, but Ryuko was too sharp to assume that they would stay that way. 

            Especially with those boys still running around.

            Kanae felt it too – the anxious feeling that came with the knowledge that the days until the deadline were running out. He couldn't help it; the natural anxiousness and restlessness seemed to build with each day that passed. 

            He was sure those boys felt it too. And Natsume, as well.      

            Indeed, he would not have been surprised if the world itself was straining under the stress of the premonition that within just a few short weeks, things would never – could never – be the same. 

            The only one who didn't seem to feel it – or at least didn't show it in any way he could pick up on – was Kumiko. And the fact that she didn't unnerved Kanae to no end. 

            Especially when he knew where she had come from.


End file.
